Thanks to Nathan Dentino for his contribution.

Every aspect of your life the place you live, the people you live with, your friends and acquaintances, the things you do or don't do, the things you own, your work, even things like pets, music, and color affect how you feel. If you are concerned about your mental health or the quality of your life, you can do many things and make changes in your life that will
help you to feel much better.

This information is brought to you by the US Dept Of
Health and Human Services, www.samhsa.gov

Creating Change-Taking Action:

It is not always easy to take the action necessary to create change. However, without taking some action, you can't make changes in your life that may be necessary to help you feel better. Every time you take a positive step in creating change in your life, give yourself a pat on the back or reward yourself by doing something nice for yourself like taking a warm bath,
going for a walk, or spending some time with a friend. You may also want to keep a written record of the change you are creating in your life in a notebook or journal.

Change takes time and may be difficult. You may have to overcome many obstacles. Take small steps, don't give up, be persistent. Keep working toward whatever it is that will help you to feel better and enjoy your life more. Making change is being able to see beyond yourself to what the solution might be.

Creating change is something you need to do for yourself, no one else can do it for you. Others can help you and support you as you create change, but it is up to you to do what needs to be done. You will be the one that benefits from successful change.


Taking Charge-Regaining Control of Your Life:

If you feel you have control over your own life, you have gotten over the first hurdle to creating change in your circumstances. If you don't feel you have control over your life, it is important that you take back control. It is very difficult to feel well when
you are not in charge of your own life.


Getting Good Health Care:

You deserve good health care. If you have a good health insurance plan, this won't be a problem. If you don't, or your access to health care is limited, see what is available in your community that is free or has sliding scale fees you can afford. While it may be hard for you to access good health care, it is worth making the effort to get what you need and deserve for yourself.


Home:

The space where you live, your home, can affect how you feel. Perhaps you need to make some changes in your living space or living arrangement or find a different place to call home.


Employment or Career:

You may not have a job and wish you had one; or you may have a job or career. You may enjoy this work. It may help you to understand your value and provide and provide you with needed income. This work, or parts of it, may cause you stress and make your life more difficult. While there are difficult aspects of every job or career, overall you should have a job or career you enjoy, one that increases your enjoyment in life rather than detracting from it.


Diet:

The foods and other substances you put in your body may be affecting the way you feel. Many people have found that they feel much better when they pay close attention to what they are putting in their bodies, eliminating some things and adding others. If you feel your diet is affecting the way you feel, try to become more aware of what you eat and drink. Notice how you feel half an hour or more after you have eaten that food or had that drink. If you notice you don't feel very good, try eliminating it from your diet for a short time. If you feel better not eating this particular food, you may want to avoid it as much as possible.


Exercise:

If you exercise regularly, you will enjoy the following benefits: an overall feeling of well-being, enhanced ability to sleep with more restful sleep, improved memory and ability to concentrate, a decrease in some uncomfortable symptoms, decreased irritability and anxiety, improved self-esteem, weight loss, improved muscle tone, increased endurance, increased mobility.


Light:

You may notice that you have less energy than unusual, feel less productive and creative, need more sleep, feel sad, down, or depressed, and have less control over your appetite as the daylight time gets shorter in the fall or when there is a series of cloudy days. You can supplement your light with bright or full spectrum light indoors or by using a specially manufactured light box. You may want to plan ahead if you know the fall and winter times are hard for you by getting as much outdoor light as possible.


Sleep:

You may feel better if you sleep well. Your body needs time everyday to rest and heal. If you often have trouble sleeping or falling asleep, or waking during the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep, one or several of the ideas might be helpful to you: Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning. Avoid "sleeping
in", it will make you feel much worse, establish a bedtime "ritual" by doing the same things every night for an hour or two before bedtime so your body knows when it is time to go to sleep, avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, eat on a regular schedule and avoid a meal before going to bed, don't skip any meals, eat plenty of dairy foods and dark green leafy
vegetables, exercise daily, but avoid strenuous or invigorating activity before going to bed, play soothing music on a tape or cd that shuts off automatically after you are in bed, take a warm bath or shower before going to bed.